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July 25, 2003
Sunny's Funnies
Now that I've gotten most of the Quotes Database rebuilt, It's on to the Sunny's Funnies humor archive. It should be an easy one to build except for the picture management system.
I haven't quite decided how to handle funnies with pictures yet. The database side of the funnies is quite flexible with regards to adding pictures to a funny. The beast is in writing the web-based UI (user interface). Because there are so many possible functions (add funny with no pictures, 1 picture, many pictures; update funny with 0, 1, >1; delete funny with 0, 1, >1), I want to build a UI that is both functional and usable.
There's no sense in writing 9 different UIs for each of the possible functions because that's just stupid to use. Likewise, one page with all options isn't the best for server load. I just have to decide what is both usable and easy to write (because I'm so lazy :D).
Also, to help get some feedback and interaction in my site, I've added a Submit Quote and Submit Funny so visitors can send me stuff they enjoy and want to share.
Posted at 10:34 AM | Web Site Stuff | Comments (0)
July 16, 2003
Quotes Database
Adding the Blog feature to my web site also gave me an opportunity to work on my quotes database.
When I first put it together, I was still a n00b in database design, so I put it together wrong. I've since gone in, restructured the database so it's better (not best because I wanted to preserve my data) and working much more smoothly. The new design also allows me much more freedom and functionality. Wheee! :)
Anyway, the updates continue, and I've added a few hundred more quotations to the database. I think one good weekend should flesh it out quite a bit.
After I'm satisfied with my quotes database, I want to revive my Sunny's Funnies to some degree. That will definately be time consuming though. /sigh.
Posted at 10:16 AM | Web Site Stuff | Comments (0)
July 11, 2003
Working for Myself
I've been watching quite a lot of Changing Rooms (neighbors swap houses and redecorate a room with the help of two designers) and Ground Force on BBC America. On the 100th episode of Changing Rooms, two of the designers swap and redecorate each other's houses. In the preamble, designer Lawrence mentions that it's really difficult for designers to decorate their own houses because they're always working for other people and never really thinking of the decor for their own personal consumption. I find the same is true for web design.
When building and updating my own sites, I feel that I'm far more critical and/or fussy about what I'm doing than when I'm building a site for someone else. I don't mean that quality suffers in either case (well, you can be the judge of some of that anyway), but I go through far more possible designs when building my own site. Part of that indecision is what draws out creativity and stretches the boundaries of my repertoire. That's the fun part.
Another (large) portion of the process, however, is spent saying "does that layout/design/color scheme/functionality really speak to me and match both my tastes and my personality? Or is it just something that seemed like a cool idea or design and would work well if I was only building a site for X, Y or Q?
It's rather difficult trying to invest oneself and place one's personal stamp on something that is meant as both for public consumption and private display. Seperate, the two are relatively easy to identify and cater to, but making something personal and for sharing is no easy task--whether it's a web site, a room, or a garden.
As I consider this further, I begin to wonder if there's much difference to an extrovert's opinion. E's are used to dealing with the human element more frequently (by choice) and may be attuned to it more. Or, perhaps, just as the uncomfortable introvert's presentation of "self" is worked and reworked, so too does the extrovert go over the many possibilites that could be both personally appropriate as well as socially.
Either way, it seems to boil down to one simple generalization. One presents oneself in a way that they feel will garner the most acceptance. The details are just in the balance of social acceptance and personal pride.
Posted at 10:58 PM | Web Site Stuff | Comments (0)
July 09, 2003
Convenience
I identified one of the reasons I never update my site. It's one of convenience. Because I didn't have an automated blogging system, I only rarely updated my blog. Makes sense, eh? So, being the lazy person that I am, I'm looking into systems already written. We'll see how this one works out. It will take a bit to customize it into my template.
Posted at 08:56 AM | Web Site Stuff | Comments (0)